Dread Thy Fate
by Gone Into Oblivion
Summary: Isabella Swan is finally caught and taken to Romanian King Edward, who is known for his ghastly methods of punishments. But her punishment is something more dreadful than death itself...She is asked to marry him. WARNING - VERY dark.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

"**Abandon hope all ye who enter here"**

**(Dante, Inferno)**

I wrapped my arms around my knees and sniffed back tears. I huddled closer to myself, as it was very cold. My shoulders were completely bare, as the cloth over my shoulders was torn off till my elbows. There was a big vessel beside me, filled with water. I wrapped my fingers – which were battered beyond belief – around the edge of the vessel and dragged it in front of my feet, for the purpose of examining my face. My eyes were puffy and red because of crying. My cheeks were swollen, too. There was a long scar on my face – starting from my forehead, all the way to my temples till my left cheek. I cupped both my hands and took some water from the vessel, drinking it. I sighed with a sudden contentment for the first time. The water was cold and perfect for my parched throat. I ceased crying for a few seconds, as the relief was so exquisite. This was the first feeling of luxury after such a long time. The last memory ranged back to my father's home.

I again took some water from the vessel and splashed it over my face. The water hit my bare shoulders, too, besides my face. I gasped loudly, air leaving my lungs at an incredible force. Tears _again_ started gushing down my cheeks, without warning. For the first time, I felt an emotion of self- pity. The water had been apparently too cold to my skin. It did not feel as wonderful as it had been to my throat. Too bad, actually. My throat had been parched, but my body was shivering because of cold. And the water didn't help, of course.

I shoved the vessel away from me with disgust. It did not seem as perfect to me as it had before. I realized I was shaking terribly. Because of the cold _and_ my sniffing.

I never would have thought even in my wildest imaginings that I would be reduced to _this_, this mess. I _had_ somewhat expected it in the back of my mind. Not my reaction, but the _reason_ behind this reaction.

I was in one of the torture chambers.

I knew that I might be taken away by his guards for one of the ghastly punishments. I knew that it was a possibility. But I had thought that I would take my punishment bravely, with a smile. Yes, I thought that I would even smile, completely taking him off guard and shocked. This tyrant was used to the begging and tears and screams of terror of the prisoners, and I had promised myself that I would not give him this pleasure. I would _not_, under any circumstances, shed tears. I would die leaving him perplexed and unsatisfied. After all, who knew that crying, instead of the slaughter was his favourite part?

I made my lamb self look like a lion.

Now, I was _anything_ but brave. My whole body was cold, not only because of the weather, but because of fear. Pure, unadulterated _fear._ My subconsciousness had not even grasped that it was happening to me.

My whole body was stiff like a corpse. I covered my ears shut and squeezed my eyes tightly each time I saw from behind the bars the prisoners between guards travelling through the long and dark corridors, to devil knows where. It was probably to _Tirgoviste_, from what my father had told me and from what I have researched.

There were all kinds of prisoners, from women to children to old age people, and, of course, men.

My knuckles turned white as I waited for my punishment.

What would it be? Tying my legs against two horses and then both those horses running in opposite direction? Impalement? Or would the king himself would pull each of my limbs apart? These were some famous punishments. Of course, I would be given the severest of all the punishments, as I was one of his worst enemies, apart from the Turks.

In all of the punishments, there was one similarity – and it was not too hard to imagine. The prisoners were subjected to so much torture that ultimately they had to beg for death. Yes, this tyrant wanted his prisoners to _beg_ for death. The torture was so intense that death seemed luxurious in comparison. And now, I would be subjected to the same torture.

I wiped my wet face once more.

This was it. I was fated, sure to die. I remembered my dear father's face behind my clothed lids. I remembered him bellowing, "I am so proud of you, Bells!" when I had delivered my first speech. I remembered myself lying on his lap, and him stroking my hair softly. He had kissed my forehead and murmured in my ears, "I know you can do it, Bells. I know you can" when I had decided to come here, in the tyrant Edward Masen's area. Of course, I had failed him miserably. I wondered if he wanted to see my face again. I wondered if he would be concerned about me. If there was _some_ way to know that whether he would miss me, then I would die with a smile of contentment on my lips. But then again, I did not want him to miss me. I did not want to be a cause of his worries.

I wondered if my father's army who had come to protect me had reached home safely. I wondered if they had thought about the fake story that they had to narrate to my father, _if_ they reached their homelands safe and sound.

"Isabella Marie?" I jumped at the sound. My hand automatically swung over my pounding heart. _This is it! This is my turn, now!_

I squinted to see the face of a dark silhouette standing outside the bars. The figure wore a frock, so it probably was a girl.

"Isabella Marie? I am sorry, did I scare you?" the voice asked timidly.

"N-no." I whimpered pathetically.

"Can you please com ahead?" she asked.

"W-why?"

"I had been keeping a watch over you for the last three hours." She informed me. I blinked, shocked. I hadn't noticed her before. Perhaps I was too stricken with my own grief.

She continued, "I noticed that you were shivering. So I thought that you would need this." She held up her hands. The shape of the object she was holding was not symmetrical but easily recognizable. It was a blanket.

I blinked and waited for a few seconds, contemplating. The girl's stance seemed tense, as if worried about my reaction.

I sprinted towards her and grabbed the quilt from her and draped it over my shoulders tightly. Then I sat down again and wrapped my hands around my knees. It all took a few seconds.

The girl's eyebrows were raised. She seemed surprised, no, _shocked_ for a better word. She had staggered back a few steps. She shook her head and muttered something like, "King Edward will surely slaughter me now…."

Now that I was closer to her, I could look at her face clearly. She had an olive complexion, and had light brown hair, down till her breasts. She was petite, very petite, like me. But she was taller than me. She wore a knee length frock, light blue and white in colour. She was looking down at me with her dark and concerned eyes. Her face seemed kind and soft featured. After looking at me for a few seconds, she shrugged and sat down beside me, mimicking my pose. The only difference was that I was behind the bars, and she wasn't.

"Will you be punished for helping me?" I asked her, referring to her earlier unguarded words.

She seemed surprised; clearly, she hadn't realized that I heard that.

"No, not really."

"What did you mean, then?" I asked, confused.

"Well," she began, "Our King had assigned me the duty of taking care of you. To see if you need anything. But only if it would seem extreme. Of course, I hadn't realized that the cold was unmanageable to you."

"Oh." I said. I couldn't bring myself to be annoyed at her. Not when I knew that more unmerciful maltreatments were on the horizon.

She peeked at me, "Y – you are not mad, are you?"

Was she afraid of _me_, the prisoner? Didn't seem likely.

"No." I murmured. She looked relieved. _What the heck is happening? Why is she afraid of me?_

Then something occurred to me, and I turned slowly, deliberately to look at her, with wide eyes.

"What is wrong?" she asked.

I shook my head to clear it. "You said that the King has assigned the duty _to take care of me_?" I asked with disbelief.

The girl looked at me, confused. Then something which seemed like realization dawned upon her face. She looked horrified, too.

"I am not supposed to tell you this." She said, looking down, "The King will punish me if I don't keep his secret." She hurried through the words.

To say that I was shocked did not even describe its level. But I _had_ to know the secret. I knew then that I would trick the secret out of her.

"What is your name?" I asked softly.

Her face whipped back to me, startled. I got the impression that the King's servants were not used to normal courtesy. And I was going to use that to my advantage.

"Angela." She murmured in a thick, Roumanian accent.

"Are you Roumanian?"

"Yes."

"How long have you worked for the King?"

"Four Years."

"Did the King tell you his secret?" I probed.

"Yes."

"Hmm. You must be a very good servant, that is why the King must have chosen you." I kept my tone admiring. But this was true.

"I think so." She darkened.

She turned her face away for me and, in that instant, I extended my arms towards the vessel and dipped my fingers into it, careful not to make a sound. Then, I quickly dabbed the moisture over both my eyes, from my fingers.

I sniffed loudly.

This attracted Angela's attention. "What is wrong, Isabella?" She asked, sounding disturbed.

Good. She was playing right into my hands.

"What is right, here?" I replied. "Your kind concern reminded me of my homeland, of my mother." I sobbed, trying to create sympathy. I had never seen my mother, but the usage of the word 'father 'would have been strange, almost proving me as an imbecile.

"But now," I continued, sniffing all the time, "I would be sentenced to horrible punishments. I will die! He would kill me, won't he? Tell me, dear Angela, what has he got in his mind? That I would know what is coming for me, and I would be able to prepare myself…." I pleaded.

She looked moved by my tears, I could tell. But she was deliberating, so I added, "Alright. I know you will be in great trouble. It is fine. You don't have to tell me."

I sighed with fake resignation and let the bait sit there.

"Okay." She broke the silence. "I will tell you."

"Oh." I gushed, "Thank you Angela!"

She smiled, and then she sighed. "Listen very carefully Isabella. He is not going to punish you."

"WHAT?"

"You heard me right."

"REALLY?" I crowed, and she shot me a warning glance to keep my voice down. Two guards passed the corridor.

"It means I am free to go! I will be able to see my father again! And go to my homeland again! Oh….." I was delighted.

Angela grew very serious. "No." she murmured. "You won't be going home." She said grimly.

Disappointment flooded back into my system with full force, along with fear.

She continued, "Your punishment is….." she hesitated and then looked down.

"It is..?" I asked.

She didn't speak.

"It is okay, Angela. I can take it, whatever it is." I reassured her.

She nodded and then looked at me from under her lashes, "It is to marry him."

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	2. Chapter 2

**So here begins our story of the dreaded prince who lives in the land of Romania, beyond the Carpathian Mountains. Edward's character is inspired from the real life Vlad Dracul junior of Romania, but with a fictional twist. Questions are welcomed. Thanks to all of you who reviewed. They made my day.**

**Note: A beta is seriously needed, with fluent English.**

**All characters belong to SM. The plot belongs to Gone into Oblivion. No copyright infringement intended.**

**This chapter is EPOV.**

**Here goes….**

**Chapter – 1**

"Sire?" my minister bowed in front of me, taking off his panama.

"Yes, Benjamin?"

"Some Italians are here to see you, my Lord." He said. I already knew, of course. "They are here as ambassadors. They are here form Genova."

"I see. Usher them in, Benjamin." I murmured.

"As you wish, sire." He turned around and clapped two times. It was to indicate the guards to usher the Italian ambassadors.

I was sitting in my throne. It had been one week since I was crowned as the King of Roumania by my foster father, Carlisle. It was high time and he had to give up his throne, for some important reasons. Today was my eighth day as a King. It was a usual day. I had to meet the ambassadors of different countries, discuss strategies against enemies. After that, I had to go to witness the process of punishments of the criminals. Then, after dusk, I had to travel through the streets of Wallachia and other cities in disguise, to see how the work on the land of the peasant people was progressing, and what they thought about me, their King. The part that I loved the most was the one where I had to witness or conduct the punishments of the criminals of the society. It satisfied me. More than being satisfied, it made me ecstatic. And the method of punishment which was my favourite was _impalement_…when the red hot iron rod went through the genitals of the criminals…slowly…._ah_….that made me ecstatic…..

I was distracted form my lurid thoughts about impalement as I heard my guards ushering the Italians in. The guards were warning the Italians to not to look in my eyes, under any circumstances.

They walked through the altar in front of my throne, and stood in front of me. All my ministers and Counts were in the vicinity. They all stood upon entering them. There were twelve of them, the Italians.

All of them took off their hats and hoods and bent to bow me. I noticed they had a little skullcap attached to their heads, and they had not taken that off.

I breathed deeply through my nose and clenched my fists. I immediately saw red. How dare they offend me? Disrespect me? Did they not know who was I? Disgusting humans.

I took a deep breath. I suppose I could make it fun.

_Let the fun begin_…

"Welcome, noble ambassadors…."Benjamin began, "As you see, he is our new King, and the most noble man in Roumania…."

"He sure is." One of the Italians answered, "We all have come all the way from Italy, our homeland, to see his majesty, and pay him respect." He peeked up at me, and then looked down. He was expecting me to say something nice, too. But I could read it in his mind that he knew to speak and act _very_ carefully with me. In the eight days of my regime, I had _well_ established that. So well that the fact had spread to most of the Europe. I just stared at them stoically, without blinking.

A few minutes passed. Benjamin looked nervous. He knew that I was up to something.

If Benjamin looked nervous, the Italians looked purely frightened.

_We shouldn't have come here_. One of them was thinking.

_I think he would impale us_….other one thought, frightened. Ah, no dear. I have something much more interesting for you.

"A very warm welcome to you, young fellows." I said, breaking the tension. After all, it would be much better that they would not anticipate the attack. "As you see, I am ecstatic and very grateful to all of you. You are very kind to come all the way from Italy just to see me, a paltry creature."

All the Italians exhaled with relief. They were happy that I was not angry. The one who was speaking earlier spoke again, without looking up, "You are no paltry creature, sire. _You_ are very kind to spare your time to see us, and consider us kind."

"Now, now, young friends, I don't want you looking down. Look up, now, you all are like my pals." I told them cheerfully.

All of them looked up and a few gasps echoed through the hall. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. They all were dazzled by my beauty.

_King is so white_…..one of them thought.

_So beautiful….am I dreaming_? The other one was thinking.

_Oh, ghostly…..Is he a goblin? _The third one thought. I bit back a chuckle. Of course I was beautiful. It was to attract my preys. But it was strange too, to humans. They were fascinated by us, too fascinated to look away, but afraid too, so they kept their distance.

"Young friends…." I began, "what is with your skullcap? Why haven't you all taken them off?" I asked lightly.

He answered, "This is our custom. We are not obliged to take our skullcaps off under any circumstances, even for an audience with the Sultan Caius or the Holy Roman Emperor Aro."

I said, "In all fairness, I want to strengthen and recognize your customs."

They all bowed again, grateful. "Thank you." One of them added, "Sire, we shall always serve you with your interests if you show us such goodness, and we shall praise your greatness everywhere."

While they bowed, I motioned Benjamin to come near me, and whispered what I wanted in his ear. His heartbeat quickened, but he nodded. He knew better than to disobey me. He climbed down the steps to tell the guards about my plan.

I stood up; all the ministers looked at me, curious. They were still standing. I motioned them to sit down.

"Stand straight up, Italians." I ordered them. They all stood. They were surprised as they saw me standing.

All the Italians gasped when my guards grasped the twelve of them from behind. "S-sire?" their spokesperson asked, terrified.

.

"Dear ones, I don't want you to move, or scream and struggle, or cry for that matter. Or else this will be much worse for you." I told them lightly, nonchalantly

Then, each of my guard took out a long iron nails and planted them in a circle in the head of each ambassador, in order to nail the damnable skullcaps to their stupid heads.

The Italians did not struggle, the good fellows they were. However, big, fat tears rolled down their cheeks. Small whimpers of pain came out of their mouths now and then. All my ministers' eyes were wide with shock as they watched blood dripping down from their heads, down till their faces. But one of the Count, Jasper Hale (my foster brother) was half smiling at them, a little amused at my antics.

I was rock hard as I watched them with satisfaction. Yes, I got aroused every time I watched and conducted these kinds of punishments.

"Believe me." I told them as my attendants nailed the skullcaps on the heads of envoys. "This is the manner in which I will strengthen your custom." And with that I got down from the steps.

"Jasper, please attend to the rest of the meeting. I have and important task to attend." I said. Jasper nodded and I walked away from the hall for the purpose of release of sexual fluids from my body. I was smiling as I walked away from the main hall. Ah, how much I loved to surprise everyone. This was the best thing in my regime. The punishments. From the time since Carlisle had created me, I thought I was impotent. He had tried to create many female vampires out of humans so that I could _mate_ with them, ridiculous as it may sound. I never showed slightest of the interest. And all those females….dear Lord….I still remembered their _idiotic_ attempts of seduction. Especially Tanya…I shuddered.

But when I was in my father's court, learning politics and other things related to army, I used to see prisoners being taken away to be hanged, and boy was I _fascinated_! That was the best thing I had ever laid my eyes on, I had ever witnessed. And for the first time in my existence, I got an erection. I was aroused. And that was the day I decided that when the time would come and when my regime would be established, various ways of punishments would flourish. That is why I had established a forest of the impaled all around Roumania. Sharp rods were plunged all around that forest, so that if the enemy may dare to attack and enter my country, my hidden military would impale them. Those rods would be inserted in their buttocks, until the rods made their way through their entrails and all the way to their heads. Also, these hot iron rods were erected in public squares so that the public would fear me, and work hard to please me.

I was walking down the corridor when I heard someone's thoughts coming from the opposite direction.

_It was a mistake that I came here! I don't know what is up with that psychopath Edward. I know Anthony was very fond of him and all, but I don't trust him. The way he was smiling at me at the ceremony? Ugh! Sinister! This man is sinister! He wants to harm me. Now that Anthony is no more, he will harm me….._

Silly girl. If I wanted to harm you, I would have done that already, in Anthony's presence. Do you think I am a coward?

Countess Elizabeth was coming from the opposite direction. She was 16, and she was a human. She had married off my cousin brother, Count Anthony Masen. Anthony was abducted by the boyars, or the wolf – men of Roumania to take revenge from our family. These wolf – men were our sworn enemies, and earlier, they had more powers and influence than the King. But ever since my father became the leader, he threw their influence from the _roots_ and shifted them to country side after threatening to kill them and their descendants to extinction. My family had our doubts that they had abducted Anthony for vengeance or something, but I was sure of that. I had read their leader Jacob Black's mind. But I could not harm them without proof. Still, this was a crime I could _not_ forgive. In a way, they were challenging _me_, my _power_, _and my rule_.

There was one more reason I was enraged at wolf – men. They kept their contact with my enemy, _Charlie Swan_, our ex-military soldier and a traitor. Just his name had me breathing hard with _rage_.

Anyway, I had an excellent plan for revenge, and that involved Elizabeth.

She came barrelling down the corridor, not looking where she was going. She was looking down, and her whole body was trembling, with fear and cold.

I stopped walking. She had a terrific amount of hair, all blood _red_. That gave her a bold, dominating look, but in reality she was a mouse. A terrified, little mouse. We had met twice or thrice in total, and she trembled with fear every time I smiled at her, or even _looked_ at her. Recently, I had asked Angela to send her summon. I wanted to meet her. She came eight days ago, to my father's castle to attend my crowning ceremony. She stayed there until today.

She slammed into me, hard. She hadn't seen me standing. She was in a hurry to get away from here, probably having second thoughts. _Not so fast, Lizzie!_

I gently grasped her shoulders to prevent her from falling.

"How nice to see you, Elizabeth!" I smiled at her.

She gaped at me. _Oh no! I am trapped!_ That's correct, girl. She had understood my intentions. She always had, always would.

She opened her mouth, and closed it again. I was careful to keep my pelvis away from her, in case if she would think that she was the cause of the erection. _Hardly_.

"I was…..about to leave…." She mumbled feebly. My smile faded.

"What is the hurry now, lady?" I asked her, looking straight in her eyes, "You are very useful to me right now. I can't let you go right now."

"Please…." A low sob broke through her, "I have not done anything, _just_…let me go…."

I was about to snarl at her angrily when I noticed that she was a little too warm. She had fever.

I ducked down and gently picked her up by placing my forearm against her feeble knees. Her knees buckled and now she was in my grip. She sobbed again.

"Listen…" I told her, "…..be a good girl and I will not do anything to you. And how will you be a good girl, love?" I asked her as I carried her down the corridor, to one of the chambers.

"I don't know!" she cried.

"By obeying me quietly." I had reached the chamber now. I kicked the door open and walked to the bed. Then I deposited her gently on the bed. She wiped her tearstained face and stared at me, terrified.

I smiled at her and she shrunk away from me. I chuckled and opened the top drawer. This was the chamber in which I conducted my experiments on humans. I took out one of the several injections from the drawer.

"What is this?" the girl seriously had the nerve to question me.

"My venom." I answered her anyway. I supposed I could treat my cousin sister – in – law with some courtesy.

She blinked with horror as I lifted the injection to check the amount of venom. It was perfect, just as much as I required it. My venom glowed against the lamp. It was faint, light green in colour.

"Your _what_?" she asked. _Did he just say his venom?_

"This is my venom, girl. It is poison." I told her.

_Maybe he has extracted it from his plants. But why would he need venom…OH! _"And why have you taken this out?" she asked in a trembling tone. Her subconsciousness had already guessed that it was for her. But she did not know why. Not yet.

I sat down beside her. She tried to shift away from me, but I prevented it by locking my hand around her delicate wrist, her overheated skin gently. She immediately observed that my hand was very cold.

She looked at me with wide, terrified eyes, wondering what I was about to do.

"I have taken this out for you, obviously." She gaped at me. "Now, be _very_ quiet. You know what I do when people offend me, no?" she nodded. "Good. Don't snivel before me, either. I hate that nonsense, I have had enough. Now, lean back." I gently pushed her back against the pillow. She didn't resist. Her body was limp.

_Oh my God! Will he rape me, and kill me after that? _She was thinking. I gently smiled at her.

"Don't be afraid….." I crooned in order to soothe her, "it will hurt for a while, but then, you will be fine alright?" I smoothed her hair. She flinched.

"H – hurt?" she probed. I nodded. "What have I done? Will I die?" she was full on crying now.

"What did I tell you about snivelling, Elizabeth Masen?" I asked her sternly. She paled and stopped crying. Oh Lord! What have I done to deal with this mouse, and above all, act soothingly with her? If there was any way to atone my sins, this ought to count tally in some measure.

_I am a widow now, which is why he is killing me! Oh Great Mother, please save me…_she was praying to Virgin now. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, it will hurt for two or three days…" I answered her prior question, composing my stern tone, "And no child, you will not die. Don't worry at all, I will teach you properly, lovingly afterwards." I told her.

Dread settled in her mind as she thought I was really going to do it. "Teach me what?"

"The life of an immortal." I said as I plunged the injection into her pulse point in her neck. She screamed from that pain _and_ shock, thrashing violently.

"You monster! Oh you merciless monster! _You will get your due one day_!" she wailed as I poured all the venom through injection into her vein. I was not offended. She was in so much pain right now, but not as much if I had converted her into a vampire by biting her. I still remembered that day, the _pain_, when Carlisle had converted me into a vampire. It was unforgettable. But Elizabeth would just be a hybrid. Half human and half vampire, still as fragile as a human, but an immortal nonetheless.

I took out the injection from her neck and she gasped. I crushed the now empty injection with my one hand and kept on smoothing her hair with another.

I threw the crushed injection somewhere in the corner of the room and covered her body with the soft quilt.

She had blacked out now, but not completely. She still writhed, mumbling incoherent things. This would continue for three days.

I took her feverish hand and kissed it gently. She mumbled some profanity. It was, "Monster….." I chuckled. I kissed it once more, "We will have our revenge little sister. We will."


End file.
